Acts of God -PubliSHED November 5th 2014

Many of my readers have been asking about my new novel, which is now available.Well, the first thing to do is to make the point that the new story has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with Mistress Martha Morgan of Plas Ingli. I have been feeling like a change of genre for some time, and with 8 novels about my feisty heroine done and dusted, I thought there was more than a little danger of getting stuck in a rut, living too comfortably in the comfort zone, and assorted other cliches. So I thought that something more challenging might be a good idea.

So for twelve months or so I mulled over the basic storyline for a new novel set in Greenland, based very loosely indeed on my experiences as joint leader of the Oxford University East Greenland Expedition 1962. (Yes, it was a VERY long time ago........) But it was during the Cold War, and gradually a "Cold War Conspiracy Thriller" took shape.

During the 2013 summer break in Sweden -- in June and July -- I worked out quite a detailed synopsis, and I started on the first draft of the novel. Three weeks of fairly intensive work, culminating in a mad session during which I banged out the last 4 chapters and 16,000 words in a single day. I write very quickly indeed when I am in the mood.........I thought afterwards, having worked so fast, that maybe it was all rubbish, but Inger assured me that it was not, and that she really quite enjoyed it. Since then six other readers have looked at the text, and I have taken time to incorporate most of their suggestions. There have been further slight revisions to the storyline, and I think it is now about as slick as it can be, without pandering to those who want all action and nothing much else.Now the book is out there, and I have to sell it......

Thanks

As usual, I have received great help from many quarters during the journey towards publication. Early drafts of the text were kindly read by Ian Richardson, Keith Mann, David Sugden, Ken Brown and David Llewellyn. My wife Inger has read the manuscript several times, and as ever her editorial input has been invaluable. I have also appreciated the advice of my sons Stephen and Martin -- and Martin, with Alison's help, has created another wonderful book cover designed to sell the book to the world! I hope that the final product will be something that they are happy to have been associated with. Thank you all.

The Storyline

I am of course sworn to secrecy as to the contents of the story, but here is a publicity synopsis, just to give a feeling for it:

This is a fast-moving conspiracy thriller in the tradition of Dan Brown, Alistair MacLean, Clive Cussler and Hammond Innes, set in a magnificent yet deadly polar environment. It is also an inspiring story of comradeship and survival against overwhelming odds. At the height of the Cold War in 1962, eight young men arrive in the Arctic wilderness of East Greenland, on an expedition from Oxford University. The party is led by Stephen Hanna, just 22 years old. The explorers expect to enjoy the adventure of a lifetime, and to undertake scientific work in the most spectacular fjord landscape on earth. But as soon as they arrive, things start to go wrong, and following a series of close encounters with death they realize that their misfortunes are not occurring purely by chance. The explorers are too inquisitive and too intelligent for their own good, and after some weeks in the field they realize that they know too much, and that they are being hunted down by an invisible and implacable enemy. Prematurely their research plans have to be abandoned, and their adventure turns into a fight for survival. As the death toll mounts, the people of a small Inuit settlement are also caught up in a conflict which they want nothing to do with. At last the explorers get angry, and although they have no weapons and no means of transport, they are fit and they know how to survive in the Arctic. Their only option is to go onto the offensive, in the full knowledge that they will probably not come out of the conflict alive.

The other thing I have done, to enhance the reading pleasure of those who might be interested in a story of this type, set in the real world, is to put together a rather splendid collection of images from the key locations -- Kjove Land, Syd Kap, Bear Islands, Schuchert Dal, Stauning Alps, Nordvest Fjord, Jameson Land etc. The pictures can be seen here: